TORONTO — Defence attorneys for a teen woman accused of fatally stabbing a homeless man in Toronto two years in the past argue an merchandise seen falling out of her pocket after the incident was not a knife however a marker.
The woman is considered one of two teenagers on trial within the alleged homicide of Kenneth Lee, who died on Dec. 18, 2022 after he was overwhelmed and stabbed in a downtown Toronto parkette.
Each women, who had been 14 and 16 on the time, have pleaded not responsible to second-degree homicide.
Court docket has seen safety video of a gaggle of teenagers, together with the 2 accused, violently swarming Lee till a shelter worker intervenes and breaks up the struggle.
Safety and cellphone movies performed in court docket present the group wandering round Union Station after leaving the parkette, till a teen boy who was with them for a part of the evening is injured with what the Crown alleges is a pointy object.
As safety employees are likely to the boy, an object with a blue finish might be seen falling out of the youthful accused woman’s pocket, and he or she bends down to choose it up. Prosecutors alleged final week that the merchandise is a knife.
No comparable object was ever recovered as a part of the investigation, nor did officers ever discover a knife, the lead detective within the case has testified.
On Monday, defence counsel for the youthful woman confirmed video of her arrest captured on an officer’s body-worn digicam. Within the video, the officer removes a number of gadgets from the woman’s jacket, together with a Sharpie marker. A Sharpie with a blue cap can later be seen in a pile of the woman’s belongings.
Requested whether or not the thing seen falling out of the woman’s pocket at Union Station could possibly be a Sharpie, Det. Rodney Benson mentioned he could not disprove that chance.
“That is definitely an evidence for it,” the detective mentioned in cross-examination.
Two small scissors and a pair of tweezers had been additionally discovered on the woman on the time of her arrest, court docket has heard.
An post-mortem discovered that Lee, 59, died attributable to blood loss after he was stabbed within the coronary heart. The forensic psychologist who examined his physique mentioned the deadly wound was giant and made up of 1 or two cuts.
Dr. Magdaleni Bellis informed the court docket final week it was “not very doubtless” that the scissors discovered on the teenager would have induced that wound as a result of the blades appeared quick compared.
The scissors may have induced a smaller stab wound close to Lee’s armpit that didn’t contribute to his demise, Bellis mentioned.
Eight women had been arrested and charged within the hours after Lee’s demise. Since then, three have pleaded responsible to manslaughter and one to assault with a weapon and assault inflicting bodily hurt.
Two different women are set to face a trial by jury in Could, one on a cost of second-degree homicide and the opposite on a cost of manslaughter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed on Feb. 10, 2025.
The Canadian Press
